Mobile device accident avoidance system

Abstract

A system, method and program product for providing accident avoidance for a mobile device having a camera integrated therein. A system is disclosed that includes: a camera orientation device that is mountable on a mobile device and includes a mechanism to reorient a line of sight of the camera in response to detected position information of the mobile device; and an image feed manager adapted to run on the mobile device, wherein the image feed manager includes: an orientation system that detects position information of the mobile device and communicates the position information to the camera orientation device; an image analysis system that analyzes an image feed from the camera to identify hazards; an overlay system that displays the image feed onto a display area of the mobile device; and a warning system that issues an alert in response to an identified hazard.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An accident avoidance system for a mobile device having a camera, comprising:
 a camera orientation device that is mountable on a mobile device and includes a mechanism to reorient a line of sight of the camera in response to detected position information of the mobile device, wherein the camera orientation device includes at least one movable mirror that can be oriented by a control mechanism in three dimensions and wherein the line of sight of the camera is continuously reoriented substantially parallel to ground in a direction of travel; and 
 an image feed manager adapted to run on the mobile device, wherein the image feed manager includes:
 an orientation system that detects position information of the mobile device and communicates the position information to the camera orientation device; 
 an image analysis system that analyzes an image feed from the camera to identify hazards; 
 an overlay system that displays the image feed onto a display area of the mobile device; and 
 a warning system that issues an alert in response to an identified hazard. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The accident avoidance system of  claim 1 , wherein the camera orientation device is integrated into a case adapted to fit onto the mobile device. 
     
     
       3. The accident avoidance system of  claim 1 , wherein the orientation system detects position information from a gyroscope and direction of travel information from a global positioning system (GPS). 
     
     
       4. The accident avoidance system of  claim 1 , wherein the overlay system further displays supplemental information that includes at least one of satellite image data, drone image feeds, third party camera feeds, map data, or social network data. 
     
     
       5. The accident avoidance system of  claim 1 , wherein the image analysis system uses object recognition to identify hazards. 
     
     
       6. The accident avoidance system of  claim 5 , where in the image analysis system further includes a motion detection system that detects moving objects and determines if a moving object will intersect with a user of the mobile device. 
     
     
       7. A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, which when executed by a computing system, provides accident avoidance for a mobile device, the program product comprising:
 program code that detects position information of a mobile device and communicates the position information to an externally affixed camera orientation device to reorient a line sight of a camera, wherein the camera orientation device includes at least one movable mirror that can be oriented by a control mechanism in three dimensions, and wherein the position information causes the line of sight of the camera to be reoriented substantially parallel to ground in a direction of travel; 
 program code that analyzes an image feed from the camera to identify hazards; 
 program code that displays the image feed onto a display area of the mobile device, wherein the image feed is displayed along with an active user application; and 
 program code that issues an alert in response to an identified hazard. 
 
     
     
       8. The program product of  claim 7 , wherein the camera orientation device is integrated into a case adapted to fit onto the mobile device. 
     
     
       9. The program product of  claim 7 , wherein the position information is determined from a gyroscope and a direction of travel information is determined from a GPS. 
     
     
       10. The program product of  claim 7 , further comprising program code that displays supplemental information that includes at least one of satellite image data, drone image feeds, third party camera feeds, map data, or social network data. 
     
     
       11. The program product of  claim 7 , wherein hazards are identified using object recognition. 
     
     
       12. The program product of  claim 11 , where hazards are further identified using motion detection. 
     
     
       13. An accident avoidance method for a mobile device having a camera, comprising:
 detecting position information of a mobile device; 
 communicating the position information to a camera orientation device affixed to the mobile device to reorient a line of sight of the camera; 
 analyzing an image feed from the camera to identify hazards; 
 displaying a text messaging application on a display of the mobile device; 
 displaying the image feed in an overlay window along with the text messaging application on the display only when a hazard is identified; and 
 issuing an alert in response to an identified hazard. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the line of sight of the camera is continuously reoriented substantially parallel to ground in a direction of travel. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the position information is detected from a gyroscope and the direction of travel information is determined from a GPS. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein hazards are further identified using motion detection. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 14 , further comprising displaying supplemental information that includes at least one of satellite image data, drone image feeds, third party camera feeds, map data, or social network data. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 14 , wherein hazards are identified using object recognition.